Democrats say that Republicans are actively withholding committee documents. For example, Democrats want Republicans to fork over letters Issa solicited from trade associations on what the GOP dubs “harmful regulations.” Issa’s staff is reviewing and analyzing the information, and will make them available Feb. 11. That wasn’t good enough for Cummings and his staff, so they sent a letter to industry asking for information identical to what Issa requested.

While a lot of this seems like petty bureaucratic infighting among committee partisans, it could have a real affect on major committee investigations into the Obama administration, stimulus oversight and other areas Issa has targeted.

Current Congressman John Yarmuth, outgoing Secretary of State Trey Grayson and U of L professor Jasmine Farrierdiscussed similar issues Monday, and had slightly different takes on a few of the points made on State of Affairs.

Third District Congressman John Yarmuth discussed his appointment to the House Oversight and Government Reform committee last week. Yarmuth said he was hoping chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) would back off from his aggressive plans to investigate the administration. Yarmuth also said oversight is necessary; the committee can’t be a rubber stamp for the administration, but a repeat of the mid 90s or glutting the system with subpoenas isn’t the way to do that.

Yarmuth was not as outspoken on the issue as the committee’s ranking Democrat, Elijah Cummings of Maryland. Cummings sent Issa a letter earlier this month, encouraging the chairman to restrain himself and not issue subpoenas unilaterally.

University of Louisville hosted a panel on political discourse Monday. Congressman John Yarmuth, outgoing Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson and political science professor Jasmine Farrier were all on the panel, which was convened in response to calls for civil debate after the shooting in Arizona.

I talked with Congressman John Yarmuth about his appointment to the high-profile Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Of Chairman Darrell Issa, Yarmuth said:

“When you have a chairman who has gone on the record and said publicly that he thinks the Obama administration is the most corrupt administration in history and that he plans to aggressively pursue investigations. That, to me, reeks of witch hunt potential.”

Third District Congressman John Yarmuth has been named to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. His office says the appointment positions Yarmuth “to evaluate the federal government’s efforts on issues ranging from the housing crisis and regulation of the financial industry to implementation of the new health care law and programs to revitalize our economy, to national security and our military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Congressman John Yarmuth talked with reporters on Saturday afternoon about the shooting spree that led to several deaths (six at the time of this post) and left Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords critically injured.

What is also unsurprising, but regrettable, is that everyone is ascribing a motive for the shooting without any credible information.

The Internet and the Twitterworld have been filled with speculation on why she was shot: that she was too liberal and was shot by a Tea Party conservative. Or that she was too moderate and shot by someone on the left.

All we know is that the shooter is under custody. No statement has been released, no motive revealed.